The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences inadvertently released the names of three scientists today as the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry, although the awarding body said the decision on this year’s winners was still hours away.

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet has published a copy of an email it says is from the Academy and which names this year’s Nobel Chemistry winners as Mundzi G. Bawendi, Louis I. Bruce, and Alexei Ekimov.

“The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honors the discovery and development of quantum dots, nanoparticles that are so small that their size determines their properties,” the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) reports at the same time, also citing an email from the academy.

Johan Akvist, chairman of the Academy’s Chemistry Nobel Committee, however, told Reuters: “It is a mistake by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Our meeting starts at 09:30 CET (10:30 Greek time), so no decision has been made yet. The winners have not yet been chosen.”

The announcement of the winner(s) of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry is expected to be announced at 12:45 PM Greek time.

Nanoparticles and quantum dots are used in Led lights and TV screens and can also be used to guide surgeons in removing cancerous tissue, among other things, according to the release.

Bawendi is a professor at MIT, Bruce is a professor emeritus at Columbia University, and Ekimov works for Nanocrystals Technology Inc.

The more than a hundred-year-old prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and comes with a cash prize of 11 million Swedish kroner (approximately €950,000).